Most patio heaters use either gas or electricity to generate heat. Electric patio heaters are by far the cheaper and more eco-friendly of the two, as they produces up to 90% less Co2 emissions than a gas heater. They are also less noisy and consume less energy. With the added benefit of being somewhat cheaper to run and purchase than gas patio heaters.
But which is the better of the two types of patio heaters? Well that depends on whether you have access to electricity or not. We would always recommend purchasing an electric heater over gas.
Radiant Infrared vs Convective Heat
Infrared electric heaters heat up surfaces (radiant heat), which makes them more efficient than gas heaters which heat up the air around them (convective heat).
Gas heaters may have a lower upfront cost for commercial users that need to heat a large area – however there is a diminishing cost savings when you factor in the cost of gas (LPG/Butane/Propane)
For example, you can buy a 15000W gas patio heater with a 52,000BTU output for approximately £300 + £60 gas tank. To get the same BTU from a commercial electric heater you’d need to spend closer to £1,350 on multiple heaters (a Veito Blade 2000 has 9000BTU’s on full power). So we can say that gas heaters have a lower upfront cost in terms of power output vs initial investment.
However the gas patio heater will consume approximately 1.25kg of gas per hour. This quickly eats into our initial savings.
A 15000W gas patio heater will provide heating coverage for approximately 15-25sqm, whereas each Veito 2000 can provide heat for up to 25sqm. We don’t need the same level of BTU output to achieve the same level of heat coverage.
| Patio Heater | Heat Coverage | BTUs | Upfront Cost | Cost Per Hour |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Samos 15kW (Gas) | 15-25sqm | 52,000 | £300 | £3.08 |
| Veito 2000 (Electric) | 25sqm | 9,000 | £250 | £0.29 |
Assuming you have access to electricity, the Veito 2000 is £50 cheaper to purchase and costs £2.79 less per hour to run! As always there are cheaper alternatives to these two heaters that offer similar specifications, but the running costs will still stay the same.
What about short/medium/long-wave infrared heating?
We’ve covered that in our handy guide to the difference between halogen / quartz / short / long etc wave heaters.
